January 2012 posts

A woman who was barred from running for a city council seat in Arizona because she doesn't speak English proficiently has appealed the judge's ruling to the state's highest court.

The case has brought national and international attention to the southern Arizona border city of San Luis after Mayor Juan Carlos Escamilla filed a court action asking for a determination on whether Alejandrina Cabrera has the English skills necessary to serve a four-year term on the council.

State law requires elected officials to know English, but Cabrera's attorneys claim the law doesn't define proficiency in the language.

Cabrera told the Yuma Sun that she needs to improve her command of English but said her language skills are adequate for serving the border city of San Luis, where Spanish is used as often as English. She also told the newspaper that she will keep campaigning during the appeal.

Lawyers for Cabrera said they want the matter settled by Wednesday because election ballots will start being printed Thursday. Officials said, however, that the state Supreme Court hasn't set a briefing schedule as of Monday night.

Yuma County Superior Court Judge John Nelson ruled last week that Cabrera's name be stricken from the March ballot for San Luis City Council.

Cabrera, who last year launched two unsuccessful attempts to recall Escamilla as mayor, was one of 10 candidates who filed petitions to run for the council.

Nelson's ruling was based on tests administered by a sociolinguistics expert, as well as her inability to respond to questions posed to her in English at last week's hearing in Yuma. The removal of Cabrera from the ballot also stemmed from a Dec. 14 complaint made by former mayor Guillermina Fuentes that Cabrera isn't fluent in English, according to The Sun.

Fuentes claimed she has acted as an interpreter for Cabrera.

Sociolinguistics expert William Eggington presented the court with results of three different tests he administered to Cabrera, who graduated from Kofa High School in Yuma. One measured her English-speaking skill, another was to determine if she reads the language, and the third was to assess her level of English comprehension.

Eggington's report said Cabrera's English skills did not meet the level of language proficiency needed to serve on the council.

Cabrera's lawyers said the action against their client was politically motivated because of her efforts to recall Escamilla. Cabrera began circulating petitions to recall the mayor in April after the council hiked utility rates and approved the layoffs of 12 city employees as part of spending cuts.

There’s a new phenomenon in Washington: the Hispanic super-PAC, which aims to give political voice to the nation’s fastest-growing demographic.

Two have cropped up since the beginning of the year. Another that formed as a regular PAC in 2010 has relaunched as a super-PAC, expanding its efforts from a single House district to 15. And at least one other Hispanic PAC is considering making the leap to super-PAC status.

Some are liberal, some conservative. Some plan to target House and Senate races, others the presidential race. All share the belief that they are uniquely positioned to empower Hispanics in a way that the political parties have not and cannot.

“We see an opportunity, because there’s a gap here,” said Angelette Aviles of Hispanic Vote PAC, a conservative group that formed the third week in January. “Even with the Republican Party, they say they have Hispanic outreach, but they never dedicate a budget to it. We’re helping to bridge that gap.”

Their arrival creates an unusual conundrum for good-governance advocates: The under-representation of Hispanics in American politics is widely recognized, and any effort to engage Hispanic voters is generally met with applause. But the rise of the Hispanic super-PAC represents an even greater influx of the unaccountable, unlimited election cash against which both parties have railed.

“McCain-Feingold was supposed to increase transparency in our campaign finance,” said a Republican Party source. “It clearly hasn’t. These super-PACs are funneling money all over the place.”

Those doubting the increasing importance of the Hispanic electorate need look no further than swing states such as Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico. And in Florida, the GOP presidential candidates have been actively courting the Hispanic vote with Spanish-language ads and vicious attacks on each other’s immigration policies. Almost 1.5 million Hispanics are registered to vote in Tuesday’s presidential primary in Florida — more than 13 percent of the electorate there, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

A heterogeneous population representing multiple ethnic backgrounds and cultures, Hispanics are difficult to pigeonhole politically but have historically trended Democratic. But growing evidence suggests the potential for that to change, creating an opening for Republicans and a dilemma for Democrats.

“Republicans don’t need a large number of Hispanics. All they need to do is get a few points in each of these states and shave off that margin, and Democrats have a problem,” said Joe Velasquez of the American Latino Alliance PAC.

Velasquez’s group formed in mid-January and is putting together a muscular fundraising and campaign structure, bringing on the polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and Hispanic media guru James Aldrete. The super-PAC plans to support President Obama’s reelection and Democratic Senate candidates in seven states: Virginia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Arizona, Florida, Nevada and New Mexico.

“We’re a very, very, very partisan Democratic operation,” Velasquez said. “We’re going to be heavy with the president.”

Another group, the American Worker PAC, intends to spend at least $5 million during the cycle, concentrating its efforts on 15 marginal House districts that have Hispanic populations of 25 percent or higher.

“2012 is the first time in American history that Latinos will have a chance to flex their power,” said the PAC’s leader, former union operative Chuck Rocha.

The PAC’s Latino Project went on the air in Texas this month against Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco (R-Texas) with radio ads blasting him as a bank executive who has forgotten whom he represents in Congress.

“Not surprising,” the ad says. “This is the same Quico Canseco who was slapped with over $700,000 in liens for unpaid taxes and fees, but refuses to consider raising taxes on himself and fellow millionaires.”

Canseco spokesman Scott Yeldell dismissed the Hispanic character of the group, calling it a consortium of big labor groups shilling for Democrats who despise Canseco’s pro-growth policies.

“While they may have decided to call themselves the ‘Latino Project,’ this is a misnomer for their super-PAC,” Yeldell said. “Ethnicity has nothing to do with this group or the issues they are wrong about.”

What is striking about these Hispanic super-PACs is their lack of emphasis on immigration policy. The conservative Hispanic Vote PAC isn’t going to touch the issue, while other groups said immigration may or may not be one aspect of their advocacy.

Polling consistently shows that Hispanic voters prioritize issues like jobs, education and healthcare over immigration. But candidates and parties generally center their outreach to the community on immigration, in the absence of another specific issue they feel speaks directly to the Hispanic community.

A Democratic National Committee spokesman declined to comment for this story. But a Democratic official in a Southwestern state said Hispanic super-PACs could succeed where the parties have struggled, by tailoring a broad-based economic message to the concerns of Hispanic voters and targeting the Spanish-language media.

“Those groups will be more effective, if they are able to do it right, than frankly our party or any others, because they can focus on a specific set of needs,” the official said.

By law, parties and candidates cannot coordinate with super-PACs, which can accept unlimited contributions from corporations and individuals to spend supporting candidates and attacking their opponents. But Republican National Committee spokeswoman Alexandra Franceschi said the GOP wants to see Hispanics involved at every level of the Republican Party.

“We think the fact that these super-PACs are focused on the Hispanic vote shows the growing importance of the Hispanic electorate, and how important it will be in the 2012 election,” she said.

The difference that super-PACs could make in ushering in a new era of influence for Hispanics in American politics could be profound.

David Mason, a former Federal Election Commission chairman now with the Aristotle consulting firm, said Hispanic super-PACs should be wary of party-oriented politics. But if they can develop into a mature grassroots movement with the ability to raise money internally, they could parallel the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, whose influence transcends elections and helps set the legislative agenda in Washington.

And Joseph Birkenstock, former chief counsel for the DNC who has also advised Stephen Colbert’s super-PAC, said the phenomenon could help the Hispanic community achieve its goals quicker than African-Americans, who faced a lag of more than a century between the Civil War and their community’s emergence as a potent political force.

“Happily, it’s not going to take that long for the Hispanic community to find its voice,” he said.

Florida is the traditional tie-breaking primary in the January gantlet -- but there's very little that's traditional about the Sunshine State. It is a sprawling cross section of 10 media markets and one of the most diverse states in the nation, containing communities of voters across the political spectrum.

But we talk about politics in shorthand, and many stereotypes endure long after they are bypassed by reality. So here are three stubborn myths about the Sunshine State to think about as Floridians go the polls on Tuesday.

1) It's senior-citizen central: This stereotype started in the post-war boom, as legions of grandparents sought out the warmth of Florida to ease their aching bones. The state came to be seen as a land of early-bird specials, bad drivers and retirement communities punctuated by amusement parks -- "God's waiting room." But in the 1980s, young families began to move into Florida en masse, following economic opportunity and now-ubiquitous air-conditioning.

Today, just 17% of Florida's population comprises senior citizens -- just above the national average, according to the Almanac of American Politics. Moreover, 22% of Floridians are under-18 -- a number boosted by high levels of immigration from Latin America. And two Florida cities, Gainesville and Tallahassee, are among the top 10 youngest cities in America, with median ages of 24 and 26 respectively. Florida's diversity is no myth -- but the idea that it is defined or even disproportionately dominated by AARP voters doesn't hold water.

John P. Avlon

2) Cuban-Americans are the Hispanic community: This stereotype goes back to the exodus of Cubans fleeing the tyrannical communist regime of Fidel Castro in 1960. To be sure, a vibrant, passionate and conservative community remains centered in Miami and the surrounding area. The Bay of Pigs Museum remains a staple on any Republican presidential candidate's trip to Miami.

But Cuban-Americans make up only 30% of the Hispanic population of Florida. Southern Florida has become the capital of Latin America, as wealthy families have realized it is the most stable nearby place to put their money and families. Among the Spanish-speaking population are large numbers of Dominicans, Mexicans, Venezuelans, Colombians and Puerto Ricans (who are not immigrants at all, but fellow Americans). Simply denouncing Castro won't be enough to win their votes. Fidel Castro recently weighed in on the GOP primary race and proclaimed it "in all seriousness, the greatest competition of idiocy and ignorance that has ever been" -- except for all the show trials, imprisonments and executions of his political rivals, of course.

Interestingly, despite Mitt Romney's attacks on fellow Republican candidates who support comprehensive immigration reform and the Dream Act, polls show that he is doing surprisingly well with the Hispanic vote this time around.

3) There is a typical Florida voter: Compared with the other states in the January primary ordeal -- Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina -- Florida is a complex array of 10 media markets, all with different characteristics. The northern part of the state, from the Panhandle to Jacksonville, is the deep South, a continuum of adjoining Georgia and Alabama. The I-4 corridor, from the Space Coast to Orlando to Tampa/St. Pete, is largely made up of young families -- some native to Florida, but many others Midwest transplants looking for a new start. The tony southeast coast of West Palm Beach is a wealthy enclave with many snowbirds from the Northeast. Miami and the southern tip make up the capital of Latin America.

And Key West is the Caribbean. All of which means it is expensive to run statewide in Florida -- and the messaging is complex. It must appeal to more of a series of nation-states than a state with a homogenized character. It is, to that extent, the best test of a candidate's ability to connect in a national campaign to date in the primary calendar. It is a red state, a blue state and a swing state -- all rolled into one.

"And I said, 'I don't know,' he replied. "I tried calling him and the phone just rang and rang and rang."

Da Silva's parents brought him to the U.S. from Brazil when he was 12-months-old. His father landed diplomatic visas for the family when he became a chauffeur for the United Nations in New York.

But after the terror attacks in Sept. 11, 2001, he decided it would be better to leave New York and move to Florida.

The da Silvas said they felt safer from the threat of terrorism. But deportation would prove to be the greater danger.

A few years later, as he was driving home from work one day, the police stopped da Silva's father for a minor traffic violation. After detaining him for several months, the U.S. government deported him.

"At this point it's hard to plan," da Silva said. "He got a 10-year ban, so he can't come back for 10 years and I can't go back to a country that's foreign to me. I don't even know how to read or write correctly -- what am I going to do?"

Da Silva said his mother feels responsible to stay in the U.S. to oversee his younger sister's education.

"I never imagined that I'd have my family ripped apart before my eyes," da Silva explained. "I never imagined that I'd never be able to see my dad again for at least a decade."

Although da Silva has decided to speak out publicly for immigration reform, he also faces the possibility of deportation at a moment's notice.

Threat of Deportation

"Carla" and "Luis" have the same worry. CBN News has hidden their identities for this report.

Luis was recently denied political asylum in the U.S., although he received death threats in his native country for criticizing the government.

The pair said Luis could be pulled over anytime, forced to leave the U.S. along with their two sons. That possibility is painful for Luis, especially at night when he tucks his children into bed.

"Every night when I come to my child' bed…I don't know if I'm going to see him the next day, at the end of the day," he said. Luis and Carla said their small group at church is a big support for them.

For da Silva, his pastor was the one who helped the family navigate their deportation tragedy. Latino evangelical leaders say their stories are the new normal for today's church.

"Every pastor in every Latino church in the country has undocumented immigrants somewhere in their community, either directly worshipping in their place of worship or related to one of their parishioners," said Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition.

"These are not numbers for us. These are the people we break the communion bread with," he added.

Political Powerhouse?

However, will these harsh realities prove to be a catalyst at the polls? Thanks to phenomenal growth nationwide, Latinos have the potential to become a political powerhouse.

But recent history shows they are slow to register and then often don't vote. During the 2010 mid-term elections for example, 66 percent of Latino eligible voters stayed home compared to 50 percent of white eligible voters.

For many Latinos, there's a sense that neither party is hearing their often socially conservative view, economic worries, and pent-up demand for immigration reform.

"What we've found in the last two elections, the mid-terms and now the 2012 presidential election, is a lot of Latino disillusionment with the political process, feeling they haven't been heard on immigration reform and the economy," Salguero explained.

"Our job as the National Latino Evangelical Coalition is to tell people, 'Don't get so disillusioned that you disengage but rather engage, have your voice heard.'"

"Be passionate. Set out a kingdom agenda and set out a national platform. Register and vote in great numbers so that the national evangelical voice is heard," he said.

For its part, NaLEC is organizing rallies in key Latino states around the country, hoping to draw attention to important issues for Latinos like immigration reform, education, and the economy.

Another Latino evangelical organization, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, is also working to register Hispanics and get out the vote.

Ultimately, these groups hope that political leaders will take Latino concerns seriously, and that debate on comprehensive immigration reform can begin.

"We're here to obey the law, we're here to do justice," Gonzales said. "But we need to fix something that for so many years is not working."

Wilde Media Network, a new national cable television network aimed at American bi-cultural Latinos, today announced that it is officially available online at WildeMediaTV.com and will be available in major media markets on television by 2013.

Wilde will target English-speaking, American bi-cultural Latinos ages 18 to 49. The network will provide programming dedicated to entertaining and informing today's English-speaking Latino audience. With original programming from game shows and reality TV, to cooking and travel shows, Wilde will deliver quality programming that celebrates Hispanic American culture for the whole family to enjoy. Its first original program, The Georgette Miller Show, will officially launch digitally on Sunday, February 5, 2012, providing viewers with real-world information on personal finance, bankruptcy, and tips for living a debt-free life.

"Latinos are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, yet when you turn on the television, there is a lack of quality programming all in one place that speaks to this audience," said Emilia Andrews, CEO and founder of Wilde Media Network. "Being Hispanic in America today means more than speaking Spanish, and Wilde has created programming that celebrates this culture in a way that resonates with today's Hispanic American population."

Wilde's line-up will include 70 percent original programming all shot in high-definition by Beholder Productions. In addition to The Georgette Miller Show, WildeMediaTV.com will feature Hideaways, a travel show hosted by Claudia Gallelli; and IMPACT, a business-focused newsmagazine program. The network is currently in negotiations with major distribution partners for its upcoming cable television launch in 2013.

Born in the U.S. to Argentinian immigrants, Andrews is a leader in broadcast television and has received dozens of awards as a producer, executive producer, and program creator. She is a judge for the National Gracie Awards, is a Silver Council Member of the Telly Awards, and serves as a board member of the Alliance for Women in Media.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer famously wagged her finger at President Obama when he visited the state a week ago. Today, though, it is Brewer who is on the receiving end of a scolding as the Latino community rises up in protest against a law banning ethnic studies in the state’s schools.

In 2010 Brewer signed HB 2281 into law, which effectively banned ethnic studies programs in public schools throughout the state. The law states that school districts or charter schools shall not include in their program of instruction any courses or classes that include the promotion of the overthrow of the United States government, resentment toward a race or class of people, are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group, or advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.

It was thought by many that this legislation was aimed directly at programs designed to highlight Latino contributions to society, specifically at the Tucson Unified School District’s (TUSD) Chicano studies program. Arizona state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Huppenthal publically criticized TUSD for what he called “an unbalanced, politicized and historically inaccurate view of American History being taught.”

Huppenthal also noted at the end of the press release that “minority students’ academic growth, year after year, substantially lags behind other TUSD schools and Arizona peers. This is unacceptable. Every child needs access to a quality public education, and these children are being underserved. In a world in which quality education holds the keys to opportunity and success, these minority students are being consigned to a lesser future. They deserve better.”

However, an independent audit ordered by Huppenthal and conducted by Cambium, a company that Huppenthal selected; found that the programs are in fact legal. New America Media reports that the audit found that “no observable evidence was present to suggest that any classroom within Tucson Unified School District is in direct violation of the law [Arizona Revised Statutes] 15-112(A).”

Nicolàs Kanellos, Brown Foundation Professor of Hispanic Studies at University of Houston and Director of Arte Público Press (APP), told The Texas Independent that the policy has been driven by an anti-immigrant ideology.

“Mr. Huppenthal, even before he became superintendent, was a legislator introducing anti-immigrant legislation and attempting to ban ethnic studies programs,” Kanellos said. “When he became superintendent he felt empowered to take them on, even though he has never been able to provide any evidence that these books violate the law calling for the overthrow of the government or the promoting of one race over the other, etc.”

APP is the largest publisher of contemporary U.S. Latino literature, and two APP books are on the banned list in Arizona. “Message to Aztlan,” by Rodolfo Corky Gonzales and “Chicano! A History of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement,” by Arturo Rosales were included in the seven books confiscated by Tucson Unified School District officials following the dismantling of the district’s Mexican-American Studies program.

Kanellos specifically cited Gonzales for being one of the “most important civil rights leaders,” mentioning a poem within the book, “I Am Joaquin,” which deals the conflicting identities of Latinos.

“It addresses that Chicanos are both Mexican and American, and have been both the oppressors and the oppressed,” he said. “It’s a healing piece not directed at Anglos but for Hispanics to come to terms with their history. It is just the opposite of the terms that Huppenthal has characterized them as.”

The loss of control by the current power structure is what Kanellos believes is the driving force behind these policies.

“I truly believe that the motivation is the fear of losing power as the demography of the Southwest changes,” he said. “It is about sustaining the power that comes from asserting a white monolithic Eurocentric history without acknowledging that we live in a multicultural society with contributions from minorities. If they really want to know how they can prevent dropouts and low performance from the Latino community, then teach them about their history, about the contributions made by Chicano leaders.”

Tony Diaz, a writer originally from Chicago, who lives in Houston, is the founder of an organization that promotes Latino literature called Nuestra Palabra.

“Our mission is to promote Latino literature and literacy,” Diaz told The Texas Independent. He talked about grassroots activism that has come in response to the Arizona ban on ethnic studies.

“This has been brewing for about a year,” he said. “The boiling point was actually cancelling the classes and quantifying the books. What really offended us down to our soul – they took the books out of the classes in front of the kids and boxed them up, and that was such a cultural offense we felt we had to do something.”

Diaz addressed what he sees as misconceptions and fear about the Latino community, and those stereotypes have led to these types of situations.

“There is a lot of it that is fear of the Latino community, as we are not conveyed through the mainstream media as individuals,” he said. “We have been portrayed as gangbangers, drug dealers, and low class workers.”

In response to the banning of these books, Diaz and other activists are smuggling them into the state.

“We have to be Librotraficante,” Diaz said. “We have to become outlaws again. We’re going to take all the ‘wet books’ that are illegal in Arizona back across the border.”

The Librotraficante Banned Book Caravan will be smuggling “contraband books” back into Arizona from March 12 through 18, and will stage readings and teach-ins.

Diaz believes that this issue has united the Latino community.

“This has galvanized us in a way I’ve never seen,” Diaz said. “Once we lay these tracks it’s going to be like a train. We’re not the sleeping giant, we’re the working giant. We’re going to make sure the American dream is realized for all the young people.”

Wow. Or should I say wepa? The first month of the year is not over, and already we have seen three big indicators that media companies and advertisers are chasing the Latino market, and language is the story. Last week, Fox announced that they will be launching a Spanish-language TV network. This morning, NBC Latino, an English-language operation, announced their launch on Facebook and Twitter. Also this morning is news from Ooyala that it is powering the introduction of cable network NuvoTV — whose audiences prefer English and a little bit of Spanglish — into a range of social and mobile environments.

I say that language is the story in each of these announcements because of an interesting experience I had a few days ago. I was in Pasadena to take part in a panel discussion at Southern California Public Radio and someone in the audience asked why so many media companies were confused about their Spanish language strategy. I replied that media companies are not at all confused but instead are beginning to gain a finer grasp of the Latino population and their preferences for language, content, and engagement. The three announcements throw the situation into sharp relief.

Language

Not long ago, I remember, Fox raised eyebrows when it announced a mostly English-language Web property called Fox News Latino. The news was not just that it was Fox doing this, but the network’s choice of language. But that gave media pundits an opportunity to step back and explain the importance of a demographic — English-preferring Latinos — in the overall mix of Latino media. Until fairly recently, if you heard someone say “Latino media.” you would have assumes she was talking about Spanish-language TV and print. The new assembly of players better reflect how the market has evolved. A piece of news that got less attention last week was Univision’s decision to provide subtitles for some of its telenovelas, a move designed to cater to the many consumers who like Hispanic content but don’t speak Spanish. Many of those consumers are Latino, and there’s no reason not to go after them.

Content

But language preferences are not all that has changed in the world of Latino media. With study after study showing that Latinos out-index most other ethnic groups in social media and smartphone adoption, it’s no wonder that media companies and advertisers are looking at content that better fits on smaller screens. Good case in point is NuvoTV’s Operation: Osmin, which Wikipedia describes as a reality show led by “celebrity fitness trainer Osmin Hernandez, who was part of an elite Cuban military unit but discharged for being clinically insane.” Lots of potential for lively content, right? Right, and a lot of it has been rendered in the form of short-form clips that fans can watch on mobile devices. And yes, the back-and-forth happens mostly in English, but if you’re a fan you’ll be tickled by the occasional use of Spanish and Spanglish.

Engagement

But I’m guessing that content is only part of the experience that makes this and other experiments so compelling to advertisers. NBC Latino provides a place for its fans to share, interact, and engage with a community, not just reporters. And NuvoTV’s entry into the social space enables it to “sell an audience” to advertisers, not just eyeballs, according to Bismarck Lepe, co-founder and president of products at Ooyala. If the three announcements I noted at the top of this article illustrate the complexity of language in the new Latino marketing mix, the overall trend toward social and mobility is where advertisers might find more growth, opportunity and innovation. In the meantime, if you find yourselves trying to engage in these new environments and you don’t really know Spanish, the little you learned in High School may serve you well … as long as you are authentic. The random Spanglish that is spoken there enriches experiences for a growing population for people who might prefer English but like to remind themselves and others where they are from. And isn’t that what social is all about? Claro que si.

The San Joaquin County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (SJCHCC), in partnership with the University of the Pacific and other community organizations, hosted the 9th Annual Student Financial Aid and College Awareness Workshop during the morning of Sunday, January 29th at the A.G. Spanos Hall at University of the Pacific in Stockton.

“Up with Education” gives Latino students and their families the opportunity to learn about the resources available to students thinking of college. “This is the day to start your dream to pursue a higher education,” said Mark Martinez, Chief Executive Officer of SJCHCC. He encouraged students to apply to college.

“Today, students and parents will get one-on-one assistance on how to fill out the application for Federal Student Aid, Cal Grant as well as techniques on how to write essays for scholarships,” said Patty Virgin, Branch Director of San Joaquin County WorkNet and Chair of the event.

FAFSA offers students a gateway for Federal and State aid programs including Pell Grants, student loans and work study. “Money is one of the biggest challenges to attend college, it is important for us to make sure that parents understand that there are other options,” said Virgin.

The conference attracted families from San Joaquin County and neighboring communities, as in the case of Veronica Cabran from Modesto, mother of 8th and 9th graders, Sebastian and Antony Aguillon. “I want to have all the information early to be prepared; that way I will I know where to go, where to call, and I can help my two sons.”

Valley museums realize they have to do more to attract Hispanic visitors and are launching efforts to reach out to an untapped market.

The Musical Instrument Museum this month received a $50,000 grant from the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust to fund marketing initiatives targeting the Hispanic community. The northeast Phoenix museum will match the grant.

"We feel like one of the ways we can support arts organizations is helping them expand their audience. That brings financial stability, which brings more outreach to the community," said Judy Mohraz, president and CEO of the Piper Charitable Trust.

Arizona's Hispanic population has increased 46 percent since 2000, according to 2010 census figures. Hispanics' share of the state population rose from about a fourth to nearly 30 percent.

MIM, which opened in April 2010 at Mayo and Tatum boulevards, welcomed its 200,000th visitor late last year. Various exhibits and events highlight the musical genres found in Spanish-speaking countries. Even the Mexican Consulate in Phoenix is helping MIM find ways to highlight Mexican music genres that will draw more Hispanic visitors.

Yet Latinos "have not been represented in the proportions that we would like or that they represent in the population for sure," said Bill DeWalt, president and director of MIM and a former director of the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh.

The potential to connect with the Hispanic community is part of what attracted DeWalt to MIM.

"That's a population we really want to have significant outreach to to make sure they know about the museum," he said. "We are working with the various media outlets that reach the Hispanic community, so we're basically thinking that's the major way we will reach that population. And we'll probably do things like billboards in areas where the Hispanic population is heavily represented."

MIM is not alone in its effort. The Phoenix Art Museum and the Heard Museum in central Phoenix are both launching programs to attract Hispanic visitors.

Valley museums have not intentionally ignored the Hispanic community, said Debra Krol, senior manager for advertising and publishing at the Heard.

"I think part of it is that people don't understand the community," Krol said. "I think it was just a matter of people not really having the right information. They were just uninformed. They didn't realize there was a need to do anything special."

But DeWalt said museums may have to go above and beyond to help Hispanics know that there is a place for them at the museums.

"When people think about a museum, they think there's going to have to be a lot of reading, and perhaps their levels of English aren't up to where they think they need to be to visit a museum," DeWalt said.

But MIM is designed to be primarily an aural and visual experience.

"It's really about the music and seeing the musical instruments. The labels are more for informational purposes if you want to go a little bit deeper," DeWalt said. "This is a place where populations from all over the world can visit and have a great time."

The Phoenix Art Museum has partnerships in place with local media organizations that reach the Valley's diverse Hispanic communities.

The museum's relationship with TV y Mas, a television guide, helps familiarize Spanish-speaking residents with the museum, said Nicole DeLeon, public-relations manager at the Phoenix Art Museum.

"We also have a partnership with Latino Perspectives magazine, which targets English-speaking, college-educated Hispanics, many of whom have a deeply influential role in the cultural, social and economic life of the Valley," she said.

Placing ads in local publications read by Valley Hispanics could expose MIM to about 75 percent of that population, said Ray Arvizu, owner and CEO of Arvizu Advertising and Promotions.

The Hispanic-owned Phoenix agency has a track record of Latino-targeted ad campaigns.

"There are multiple (Hispanic) generations in households. You may have a grandmother and grandfather that grew up in the '20s and '30s, still alive, who still want to get their information from those types of publications, which they pass along to their Baby Boomers, who pass them on to the new generation," Arvizu said.

"We believe in joining forces with other institutions and organizations, not only to increase intercultural understanding, but also to forge lasting partnerships within the community," Víctor Treviño, consul general of Mexico in Phoenix.

Twenty-six years ago, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. rocked the TV broadcasting business with the launch of a "fourth network" to compete with ABC, CBS and NBC. Today, Fox tops them all, attracting more of the viewers that advertisers like most.

News Corp. is now trying to repeat that feat in broadcasting's parallel universe of Spanish-language TV. This fall, it will take on Univision, Telemundo and a host of smaller networks with MundoFox, a 50-50 joint venture with Colombian broadcaster RCN.

Media agencies, Spanish-language broadcasters, analysts, program producers and even rival networks believe that News Corp. can pull it off if it is smart about the programming and can assemble a solid lineup of affiliates.

Some also say the entry of another well-funded, well-branded broadcast network may boost the entire business, closing the large gap between Spanish-language TV's share of viewership and its share of the advertising dollars. And the agencies simply hope such a network will give them another advertising option and, perhaps, drive down prices.

“I love having more competition coming to the marketplace," said Steven Wolfe Pereira, EVP of MediaVest and managing director of MV42/MediaVest Multicultural.

"Our role as a media strategy, planning and buying agency is to add more value and more choices for our clients. So, having more competition from a premier company like News Corp. that is acknowledging the Hispanic market and investing in it by building a network to compete with Univision and [NBCUniversal's] Telemundo is great."

David Joyce, media analyst at Miller Tabak, said News Corp. clearly has an opportunity. "There are a lot smaller networks that have tried to do this, like Azteca America. There is a lot of fragmentation, but it’s possible because, obviously, News Corp. has the financial heft."

Martin Breidsprecher, CEO of Azteca America, said Fox's entry could benefit all. “It signals that there is a great appetite for the Hispanic market in the U.S," he says. "Right now, we know that U.S. companies are not spending enough to reach Hispanics. This signals that there is money to be made in the U.S. Hispanic market.

“Competition is good. I think it will make us more vigilant and act more quickly."

After News Corp. announced the initiative last Monday morning, Hernan Lopez, CEO of Fox International Channels, and other Fox executives at the NATPE conference in Miami spent two days talking privately to broadcasters about affiliating.

Among them was Bert Ellis, president of Titan Broadcast Management, a station group that could lend several stations to the enterprise. Ellis said he was impressed by what he heard.

"The presentation was very, very good," he said, noting that he had been an early affiliate of the Fox network when he was running Act III Broadcasting in the late 1980s. "They can bring a lot of assets to it... They will get traction. They will get distribution."

Another was Barbara Laurence, who owns Spanish-language stations in Las Vegas, San Antonio, Louisville and Denver. With partner Carlos Vasallo and his film and TV libraries, Laurence has developed her own Mexican movie-based programming service for the stations, VasalloVision. But she remains open to MundoFox.

"With the recent U.S. census numbers, it is a terrific time for more options for Hispanics viewers in the U.S. You have so many Hispanics in this country and so few viewing choices. For so many years, there was no alternative to Univision. Telemundo was kept alive by the ad agencies that needed an option other than Univision, which would have been a monopoly.

"If you are an Anglo, you have hundreds of choices. Hispanics are growing and what do they have? Three or four choices, except on pay tiers [cable and satellite], and a lot of homes can't afford them."

News Corp.'s interest in the Hispanic market is being driven by its rapid growth. According to the 2010 U.S. census, the Latino population of 50.5 million is twice that of 1990 and 43% greater than it was in 2000.

In recent years, News Corp. has responded with three specialty cable networks in the U.S.: Fox Deportes, a sports channel; Utilisimo, a lifestyle channel; and Nat Geo Mundo.

With MundoFox, News Corp. is doubling down, going for the largest possible audience with programming of the broadest possible appeal.

For its part in the joint venture, News Corp. is providing ad sales, distribution, operations and playout, according to Lopez. RCN will provide much of the programming, including that for primetime.

Lopez is a co-developer of MundoFox and, for now, he is the network's chief executive and spokesman. But that will soon be changing. He said he expects to hire a CEO for the network within the next few weeks, noting that he has already interviewed a couple of strong candidates.

Lopez would not say what News Corp. is investing in the network, but he said the company is making a long-term commitment and he did not dispute a report in the Wall Street Journal that it would lose less than $50 million in its first year of operation.

While RCN is the principal source of programming, it will not be the only one, Lopez said.

Other sources include Fox Deportes; Fox International Channels, which produces programming for some of News Corp's 350 channels around the world; Shine Group, a producer of scripted and reality programming (The Biggest Loser, MasterChef and One Born Every Minute) and RCN's NTN24 cable network. The latter will produce a nightly, one-hour newscast for MundoFox

"Unlike any independent start-up network, we don’t need to set up a whole development department and try to come up with new shows from scratch," said Lopez.. "Most of our shows are already created and the experiment is already proven."

Lopez said that he recognizes that most Hispanics in the U.S. are of Mexican extraction and that MundoFox must appeal to them. He has no doubt the RCN programming will.

"Colombian programming is well known around the world because of its first-rate writing, its first-rate storytelling," he said. "It has played very well in Mexico and in the U.S. for decades, so much so that some of the most successful shows aired by Univision were actually done by Televisa based on Colombian scripts."

Some of the RCN programming has already been seen on Univision and Telefutura, he said. But all the programming that will be scheduled in primetime on MundoFox will be exclusive to the network in the U.S. "RCN is holding back everything that it has produced for Colombia for the last six months and from now on so that we can premier it on MundoFox."

RCN library content like the popular Betty La Fea (the show that morphed into Ugly Betty in the U.S.) will also become exclusive to MundoFox in the U.S. after its existing licensing agreements with other networks expire, Lopez said.

MundoFox will probably also tap News Corp.'s own TV and film libraries, he said. "We’re going to have a conversation with the Twentieth Century Fox studio and select from what has performed the best among Latinos that’s still available. Not all of those programs have Spanish-language rights."

Broadcasting is central to the MundoFox strategy. "The Spanish-Language revenue opportunity is overwhelmingly tilted towards advertising," said Lopez. "That makes it essential to get broad distribution, which on cable is hard to do."

In assembling its affiliate lineup, Lopez said, MundoFox prefers full-power stations that completely cover their markets and that are already broadcasting in Spanish, particularly if they are producing local news. "We want to pick the right partner everywhere."

Lopez said the new network expects to announce charter affiliates covering 40% of Hispanic homes within two months, and hit the 75% mark by the time of the network upfronts in May.

To win affiliates, Lopez said, Fox is offering broadcasters half of the advertising inventory, or six minutes per hour. It's neither offering nor asking for cash, he added.

Lopez said Fox is seeking "long-term" affiliation agreement, but declined to define what that means. "It's going to vary," he said.

The key to MundoFox achieving its coverage goals is finding affiliates in the top 10 Hispanic markets, which account for just over 50% of all Hispanic homes: Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, Chicago, Dallas, San Antonio, San Francisco, Phoenix, and, of all place, Harlingen-Weslaco, Texas.

MundoFox has several places in can go in Los Angeles, which alone has 13.4% of Hispanic homes. According to one source, it is eyeing KWHY, an independent Spanish-language station owned by the Meruelo Group headed by Alex Meruelo.

Ironically, until last year, the station belonged NBCUniversal, the owner of Telemundo, but it was forced to spin off the station by the FCC at the time of the Comcast takeover to comply with ownership restrictions. NBCU had owned the station under a waiver. Meruelo paid $40 million for it.

MundoFox could also go with Hero Broadcasting's KBEH in Los Angles, which now airs Viacom's Spanish-language music video service, tr3s. Principally owned by Robert Behar, Hero also has a station with the same format in Phoenix, KMOH, Hispanic market No. 9.

The No. 2 Hispanic market, New York (9.6%), could prove more difficult. There is no independent Spanish-language station in the market. But there is a station with brokered Korean and Chinese programming, WMBC, and two English-language independents, WSAH and WRNN. However, the transmitters of all three are on the fringes of the market, limiting their over-the-air coverage.

Licensed to Bridgeport, Conn., WSAH is in bankruptcy, but Bert Ellis and his partners have a deal in place to buy it. Based in Westchester County, N.Y., WRNN is owned by Richard French, who just sold his only other station, independent WTVE Philadelphia, for $30.4 million and may be looking for a way out.

In Miami (5.2%), the third-ranked Hispanic market, the only Spanish-language independent is WGEN, owned by Mapale LLC. The station's main transmitter is in Key West, Fla., but it covers much of the Miami market through a network of low-power repeaters.

If MundoFox is to achieve its distribution goals, it may have to snatch affiliates from other networks like Azteca America. That's the way the original Fox broadcast grew.

"It’s going to be hard to convince somebody to switch away from Univision and Telemundo because they have had such a long and intense track record," Lopez said. "We honestly don’t believe that’s going to happen at launch, but we are certainly going to talk to everybody."

Azteca America may be vulnerable. Among its key affiliates is Una Vez Mas Holdings, which contributes to the network full-power stations in Dallas (KAZD), San Francisco (KEMO) and Houston (KYAZ) and low-power stations in some 20 other markets. Azteza America's flagship in Los Angeles, KAZA, may be safe since parent TV Azteca owns 25% of the station. Pappas Telecasting owns the majority stake.

News Corp. could also try to absorb Spanish-language broadcasters that have created programming services for their own stations. In addition to Barbara Laurence (VasalloVision), such broadcasters include Liberman Broadcasting (Estrella TV) and Spanish Broadcasting System (Mega TV).

The agencies and others in the Hispanic media sphere think that it is important for MundoFox to differentiate its programming from Univision and other networks.

“Hispanics are very drawn to experimenting with new things," said Hector Orci, founder of La Agencia Orci, an Hispanic ad agency in Los Angeles. "They’re not stuck on anything. If you come up with something new, they’ll try it. And if it’s better than what they’ve got now, they’ll stick with it."

Jose Velez-Silva, partner and director of client services at ad agency GlobalWorks in New York, concurred. “I don’t know what their lineup will be. If it will be the typical novela lineup, then what’s the point?"

Not surprising, Gwyn thinks MundoFox ought to think about airing at least some of its programming in English.

“I don’t know if there’s room for another Spanish-language network, but I think there’s room for another network," he said. "The English-language Latino is underserved. They’re consuming their media in English.

“Fox has a very good perception in the Latino community. They have good news. They have the Fox Latino website, which is all in English, and, from what I understand. it’s doing very well."

News Corp. will figure it out, says Luis Torres-Bohl, president of Mexicanal, a network featuring mostly Mexican regional programming that has cobbled together its distribution from cable, satellite and broadcasting. It now airs on 22 multicast subchannels.

"Fox is a very smart company," he said. "They have had quite a number of successes in television. They are going to come to the conclusion that you can't be all Columbian or all this or all that. What they are going to try to do is come up with programming that addresses as broad an audience as they possibly can."

That's not to say the RCN can't draw big audience simply because of its Colombian roots, he added. "Quality programming crosses national as well as ethnic boundaries."

David Joyce, a media analyst at Miller Tabak, said MundoFox could "lift the overall market" by attracting more advertisers and viewers. That, in turn, could narrow the viewership-advertising gap.

Even though Hispanics now account for nearly 17% of the U.S. population, Hispanic media attract only about 4% of the advertising dollars, he said.

“On a purely theoretical basis, that gap between 4% and 17% could mean another $10 billion that should be in this market. However, that should be cut as more people become acculturated. Even so, there should be at least a couple of billion more coming into this market."

In pitching the network to advertisers and potential affiliates, News Corp. is making heavy use of its bright history in English-language broadcasting.

"You couldn’t have a fourth network and, of course," Lopez said. "Fox came in and experimented, innovated different shows like Married ... With Children that definitely made a mark. They weren’t for everybody at the time, but they definitely got noticed. Then came The Simpsons, X-files and Ally McBeal, then 24 and Family Guy, then American Idol.

"Throughout all this time, Fox has been pushing and innovating and creating breakthrough television. You know what it’s done. It’s been No. 1 eight seasons in a row."